If you’re a Northwestern fan, chances are that your first reaction when you found out that Gus Hurlburt committed to the Wildcats last weekend as a preferred walkon was likely, “Who?” And then, “He’s from where?”

Hurlburt comes from Enderlin, N.D., not exactly a basketball hotbed. With 886 residents, it’s tiny even by North Dakota standards. Google restaurants in Enderlin and you get one result: TraXside Café. Though Hurlburt points out that Fargo, “the rest of the world,” as he calls it, is just 45 minutes away.

Even though Enderlin High School has just 21 people in its senior class this year, it managed to produce the Hurlburt brothers, a pair of twin towers – literally – who will both play major college basketball.

You might have heard of one of the twins, if you follow basketball recruiting closely. Joe Hurlburt is a four-star prospect ranked as the No. 113 player in the nation. He collected 11 scholarship offers before signing with Colorado in November.

Gus is the other one. He wasn’t even listed in the Rivals database when he announced his commitment to the Wildcats.

That’s not to say that Gus is a slouch. He’s 6-foot-9 and 205 pounds and averages 15.9 points and 8.8 rebounds per game for the Eagles, according to MaxPreps. This is his sixth year playing on the varsity team at Enderlin, and he’s averaged double figures in scoring since he was a freshman.

Gus received an offer from North Dakota in ninth grade and got recruiting interest from Harvard, “some high-academic Division III schools and some mid-major Division I schools,” he said.

So Gus can play a little bit. It’s just that he’s not quite the prospect his brother is.

So we’ll get that out of the way first. Despite the fact that the Hurlburts are fraternal twins, their games are not that similar.

“We play different styles,” said Gus. “I play in the post more than he does. He drives more than I do.”

Joe is about two inches and 15 pounds bigger than Gus. His numbers are better than Gus’s across the board, as you might expect. He averages 25.1 points, 14.7 rebounds and 4.6 assists per game.

Power Six programs like Iowa, Iowa State, Ohio State and Wisconsin all offered Joe. None of them offered Gus.

And that’s just fine with Gus.

You might think that having an older brother who is a bigger star in the same game that you play might be a problem for Gus. But he says that, even though they are as competitive as any set of siblings would be in practice, there was never any jealousy on his part in terms of recruiting. They never planned on playing together at the next level, anyway.

“We’re both pretty different on and off the court…,” said Gus. “I was always happy for him. We kind of looked at schools differently as I looked at a school more from an academic standpoint than he did, so my ideal school was different than his.”

Gus said that Northwestern noticed him “a little bit” when they were recruiting Joe. Still, he had to rely on his father’s email campaign to finagle a preferred walkon offer from head coach Chris Collins’ staff.

“My dad sent them a lot of emails,” said Gus. “That was a big part of it.”

Once Northwestern offered him an opportunity, however, Gus jumped on it. It was an easy decision.

“First off, it’s one of the best schools in the country, and I’ve always been focused on academics,” he said.

That’s not an idle boast, either. Gus said he has a 3.99 GPA on a 4.0 scale. He got one A- in his high school career; the rest were all As.

The fact that Northwestern is located in metro Chicago is also a draw for a kid who grew up in a town that, according to Wikipedia, got its name because it’s the “end of the line” for the Soo Line Railroad's main line through North Dakota.

“I love Chicago,” he said. “It’s one of the best cities in the world. I’ve always liked Chicago, and it will be an interesting contrast (from Enderlin).”

That it will.

Gus doesn’t have any illusions about coming in and setting the Big Ten on fire at Northwestern. He knows what he can do as a player.

“I’ve got pretty good post moves and I can stretch the floor,” he said. “I’m a pretty good shooter. I’m a solid athlete and I can rebound quite a bit.”

More important than that, though, Gus knows his limits. He knows that the Big Ten is a gargantuan step up from North Dakota Class B basketball. He just plans to do whatever he can to help the program, even if it’s not on game day.

“I work pretty hard. I’m a good locker room guy,” he said. “I’m not expecting playing time. I can contribute to the team in other ways.”

If you want to know who Gus Hurlburt really is, that statement might define him better than anything else.